Eircom shareholders will be asked to vote on the Eircell/Vodafone deal at an extraordinary general meeting in early March. It is also possible, but by no means certain they will also be asked at that time to sanction the sale of the fixed-line operations.

Although the general terms of the deal have been finalised, there are still some loose ends to tie up. The final price which shareholders will get for their Eircell shareholding will not be known until the vote is cast at the meeting. Details of the deal are expected to be sent to shareholders in February.